All eyes were on the two. Immediately almost all of the participants recognised Mo Junjie, while not many people knew who Wang Tian. But those who did know who he was couldn't help but tremble. Then something dawned on them.
'If this bastard is here, then what about the other demon?' The young masters felt chills, scanning the crowd as quickly as possible before their eyes landed on Mu Feng. Naturally those atop their demonic beasts noticed this change amongst the crowd, but they couldn't careless.
The man atop the Violetflame Stallion then coughed lightly. "Ahem, the Selection shall now begin!" He declared, his voice sending a thunderous boom throughout the crowd. With this he had successfully regained his prestige.
Silence ensued, no one really knew what the beginning of the selection entailed, after all none of them had explained what was to happen. Were they meant to immediately fight? Show off their cultivation? Start begging? They could only guess.
Fortunately their doubts were soon dispelled a few seconds later. "It seems you guys don't understand how this works, which makes sense, its our fault for not explaining properly. A selection is pretty simple, you may go atop the stage and showcase your abilities. This can be done by either challenging others or simply displaying your techniques. Also as I hope you all know, you must already be in the Essence Condensing Realm." Green snake man explained.
Hearing this the various people immediately understood. 'Isn't this..... very crude?' Mu Feng was a bit displeased by this method, but he'd just go with it, there was no use dwelling on it. On the other Wang Tian was overjoyed.
He had just broken through after all, so it would be best if he could just display his strength rather than fight. After all his physical abilities spoke for themselves. And he needed to settle his cultivation base before getting into a fight.
A few seconds later a figure dashed atop the stage. He was in the 1st Layer of Essence Condensing, and could be considered a genius throughout the Azure Tree Kingdom. "I am Shao He, I will now display my techniques." He bowed before beginning his demonstration.
Sending out a flurry of kicks, and punches to the untrained eye it looked quite intriguing. But anyone worth half his salt wouldn't be very impressed. At best Shao He could be considered a mediocre cultivator in the 1st Layer of Essence Condensing, even among the Azure Tree Kingdom participants he was nearer the bottom of the barrel.
'That stage, what is it made out of?!' Wang Tian was shocked. Rather than Shao He's prowess, it was the stage's durability that astounded him. One had to know that at the 9th Layer of Qi Refinement, most ordinary materials could barely withstand a cultivator's power.
Stone, copper, iron, gold, to them such materials were like tofu. Even large boulders could be shattered with a simply flick of a finger, not to mention for an Essence Condensing cultivator. It wasn't like Shao He was taking care not to damage the stage either, it was simply too durable for him to damage it.
Almost a minute later Shao He concluded his performance taking another bow towards the disciples who stood above.
"Flying Tiger Mountain is uninterested."
"Swift Wind Sect is likewise uninterested."
"Neither is Poison Valley interested."
"Violet Sword Sect is unimpressed."
"Myriad Flower Sect is disgusted."
Each and every reply was more scathing than the last, culminating in the cruel ridicule from the woman from Myriad Flower Sect. Hearing this Shao He was downcast, but unfortunately he had missed his chance. He then left the stage and was never seen again.
And thus the selection continued. About 90% of the participants were in the 1st Layer of Essence Condensing, so it was imperative that they stuck out as much as possible which led to a number of participants deciding to battle each other to increase their odds of being selected.
A few hours later, almost all the disciples had displayed their abilities. With a total of 6 disciples in the 1st Layer of Essence Condensing making it into either Flying Tiger Mountain, Swift Wind Sect or Poison Valley.
The 2nd Layer Essence Condensing cultivators had a much easier time, as their cultivation base alone qualified them to join the lower 3 factions, but naturally they wanted to enter Violet Sword Sect or Myriad Flower Sect if possible. Unfortunately for them none of them succeeded but they still joined one of the lower factions.
Eventually only five participants were left. Two of which were in the 1st Layer of Essence Condensing, another in the 2nd Layer, one in the 3rd, and one in the 5th Layer. Naturally it could be said the best was left for last, at least partially.
Jumping onto the stage, the man in the 3rd Layer bowed lightly before scanning the remaining participants. He obviously recognised Mo Junjie so he had no desire to challenge him, leaving him with only the other three participants to choose from.
Seeing that there was a difference in cultivation base, he came up with an idea so that his showing would be somewhat impressive. "I would like to challenge you three to a fight." He declared while pointing at them.
Hearing this their ears perked up. 'Is he a clown?' Wang Tian thought. 'He's not serious is he?' Su Wu mused. '.....No words can describe the level of stupidity of this fool.' Mu Feng was simply astounded. Without any further delay he jumped atop the stage locking eyes with the man.
"I'll be your opponent." Mu Feng replied, a spear appearing within his grasp. Immediately those watching were shocked. After all the man's proposition wasn't anything ridiculous, rather it was quite fair. And now all of a sudden a 1st Layer pipsqueak wanted to fight a man in the 3rd Layer one on one? What was he stupid?
"....I am not fighting you alone, there's no point in me defeating someone in the 1st Layer." The man shook his head folding his arms. Defeating someone like Mu Feng held no meaning to him. "Oh so you're a coward, got it. Too bad then." Mu Feng sighed before turning around putting his spear away.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN COWARD!?" The man roared his cultivation base exploding. 'Of course the No.2 in the Kingdom would have some stupid superiority complex. Well I guess after this fight he'll be No.3.' Mu Feng smiled his spear reappearing once again.
A grey energy then diffused from his palm into the spear, before he threw it towards the man at full force.